Optimized security association database management on home/foreign agent

ABSTRACT

Techniques for security association management on a home agent and a foreign agent are described herein. In one embodiment, in response to a first mobile network registration request from a mobile node, a remote authentication facility is accessed to retrieve a security association for the mobile node for authenticating and providing a first network connectivity to the mobile node, wherein the security association is associated with a lifespan. The security association is inserted in a local security association database to create a security association entry, wherein the security association entry includes the lifespan. A second mobile network registration request from the mobile node after the first network connectivity has been terminated is received and the security association entry in the local security association database that corresponds to the mobile node is used to provide authentication of the mobile node without having to access the remote authentication facility again if the lifespan associated with the security association entry is valid. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of networking; and morespecifically, to security association management on a home agent and aforeign agent.

2. Background

Mobile IP is a protocol which allows laptop computers or other mobilecomputer devices (referred to as mobile nodes herein) to roam betweenvarious sub-networks at various locations, while maintaining Internetand/or WAN connectivity. In a typical Mobile IP network, when a mobilenode roams from one foreign network to another foreign network, themobile node has to send a registration request according to a Mobile IPprotocol to a foreign agent associated with the foreign network toestablish a communication session with a home agent associated with themobile node.

Before the foreign agent or the home agent provides a mobile node withnetwork connectivity the foreign agent and/or the home agentauthenticates the mobile node. Typically this authentication isperformed with the use of a security association. A security associationtypically includes an indication for an authentication algorithm, a keyfor that authentication algorithm, and also is associated with alifespan (i.e., the security association will be valid for a certainamount of time).

One prior art technique of managing security associations is tostatically configure the security associations at the foreign agent andthe home agent. However, this prior art technique has the disadvantagethat as the number of subscribers (e.g., mobile nodes) continues to growand the unpredictability of which subscribers will be hosted (e.g., thenodes are mobile and roam between various networks) this technique iscostly to maintain (e.g., memory, processor, disk storage, etc.) and isnon-scalable.

Another prior art technique of managing security associations is to useon-demand downloading of the security association from an externalauthentication, authorization, and accounting (“AAA”) server. Upon amobile IP registration request or a mobile IP re-registration requestfrom a mobile node the security association for that mobile node isdownloaded from the AAA server. Typically this security association maybe locally cached but is removed after the mobile node's IP connectionis deleted. However, this prior art technique has the disadvantage thatfor every mobile IP registration request or mobile IP re-registrationrequest from a mobile node an external round-trip to the AAA server mustbe performed. These security authentication requests increases theamount of time necessary to provide IP connectivity for the mobile node,increases network traffic, and burdens the AAA servers. The securityassociation also may be permanently cached on the home agent or foreignagent until manually deleted, but this technique suffers from thedisadvantage that as the number of subscribers (e.g., mobile nodes)continues to grow and the unpredictability of which subscribers will behosted (e.g., the nodes are mobile and roam between various networks)this technique is costly to maintain (e.g., memory, processor, diskstorage, man power, etc.).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may best be understood by referring to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings that are used to illustrateembodiments of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1A is a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofauthenticating a mobile node upon receiving a registration requestaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofauthenticating the mobile node upon receiving a subsequent registrationrequest according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram illustrating exemplary state changes of asecurity association entry according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary entries of a securityassociation database according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4A is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofauthenticating a mobile node upon receiving a mobile networkregistration request for a mobile node according to one embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 4B is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofauthenticating a mobile node upon receiving a mobile networkregistration request for a mobile node according to one embodiment ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth.However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knowncircuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail inorder not to obscure the understanding of this description. Those ofordinary skill in the art, with the included descriptions, will be ableto implement appropriate functionality without undue experimentation.

References in the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“an example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment describedmay include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, butevery embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of oneskilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristicin connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed.

In the following description and claims, the terms “coupled” and“connected,” along with their derivatives, may be used. It should beunderstood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other.Rather, in particular embodiments, “connected” may be used to indicatethat two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contactwith each other. “Coupled” may mean that two or more elements are indirect physical or electrical contact. However, “coupled” may also meanthat two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, butyet still co-operate or interact with each other.

The techniques shown in the figures can be implemented using code anddata stored and executed on one or more computers. Such computers storeand communicate (internally and with other computers over a network)code and data using machine-readable media, such as machine storagemedia (e.g., magnetic disks; optical disks; random access memory; readonly memory; flash memory devices) and machine communication media(e.g., electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagatedsignals—such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.).In addition, such computers typically include a set of one or moreprocessors coupled to one or more other components, such as a storagedevice, a number of user input/output devices (e.g., a keyboard and adisplay), and a network connection. The coupling of the set ofprocessors and other components is typically through one or more bussesand bridges (also termed as bus controllers). The storage device andnetwork traffic respectively represent one or more machine storage mediaand machine communication media. Thus, the storage device of a givencomputer system typically stores code and data for execution on the setof one or more processors of that computer. Of course, one or more partsof an embodiment of the invention may be implemented using differentcombinations of software, firmware, and/or hardware.

A method and apparatus for security association management on a homeagent and a foreign agent is described. In one embodiment a securityassociation is received from a remote authentication facility upon afirst mobile network registration request from a mobile node toauthenticate that mobile node, and each subsequent mobile networkregistration requests from that mobile node uses that received securityassociation without accessing the remote authentication facility againas long as the security association is valid.

FIG. 1A is a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofauthenticating a mobile node upon receiving a registration requestaccording to one embodiment of the invention. It should be understoodthat while this data flow diagram and other data flow diagramsillustrate operations to be performed, the order in which they can beperformed is exemplary and the order may be performed differently bycertain embodiments. Referring to FIG. 1A, there is a foreign agent 104coupled over a network 105 with home agent 106. Network 105 may be alocal area network (LAN) or more commonly a wide area network (WAN) suchas the Internet. Mobile node 102 is initially registered with home agent106 (i.e., home agent 106 provides network connectivity to mobile node102 when mobile node 102 is within its home network). Included withinforeign agent 104 is a local security association database (“SADB”) 140that is configured to store a set of one or more security associations.Similarly, included within home agent 106 is a local securityassociation database 180 which is also configured to store a set of oneor more security associations. Exemplary entries of the securityassociation databases will be discussed with reference to FIG. 3. Whilein one embodiment of the invention each of the security associationdatabases is stored in local cache memory, in alternative embodiments ofthe invention the security association databases are stored differently(e.g., hard disks, flash memory, magnetic tape, optical drives, etc.).Mobile node 102 is currently within the network of foreign agent 104 anddesires for foreign agent 104 to facilitate network connectivity.

Mobile network registration module 110 at foreign agent 104 receives amobile network registration request from mobile node 102 at operation 1.While in one embodiment of the invention the mobile network registrationrequest is a mobile IP registration request, in alternative embodimentsof the invention different mobile network registration requests may bereceived (e.g., for other protocols other than IP). The mobile networkregistration request also includes a unique identifier of the mobilenode (e.g., a network access identifier (“NAI”)). In one embodiment ofthe invention foreign agent 104 is not configured to authenticate amobile node visiting their network. Rather, upon receiving a mobilenetwork registration request, mobile network registration module 110forwards the mobile network registration request to mobile networkregistration module 150 on home agent 106. In another embodiment of theinvention, foreign agent 104 is configured to authenticate mobile node102. Thus, at operation 2, mobile network registration module 110 sendsthe unique identifier of the mobile node to mobile networkauthentication module 120 for authentication of that mobile node.

Mobile network authentication module 120 checks security associationdatabase 140 for an entry corresponding to the mobile node requestingnetwork registration (e.g., by using the unique identifier, or NAI) atoperation 3. If no entry for the mobile node exists in the securityassociation database, then at operation 4 mobile network authenticationmodule 120 accesses a remote authentication facility 115 to retrieve asecurity association for the mobile node. For example, in one embodimentof the invention the remote authentication facility is anauthentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server usingprotocols such as RADIUS or DIAMETER. At operation 5, remoteauthentication facility 115 returns the security associationcorresponding with that mobile node.

The received security association is associated with a lifespan thatdetermines the time period in which the security association is valid(i.e., has not expired). While in one embodiment of the invention thelifespan is included with the security association retrieved from remoteauthentication facility 115, in alternative embodiments of the inventionthe lifespan is created from a local policy. For example, in oneembodiment a local policy defined on foreign agent 104 may take intoconsideration the system status of foreign agent and the current numberof mobile node subscribers before assigning a lifespan to the securityassociation. In another embodiment of the invention the local policy maydefine the lifespan differently (e.g., based on the type of mobile node,the frequency that the mobile node accesses the foreign network, theservice level assigned to the mobile node, etc.). In yet anotherembodiment of the invention, the lifespan may be included with thereceived security association and also may be defined in a local policy.In such a conflict, either lifespan may override the other (e.g., thelifespan defined by the local policy may take precedence over thelifespan included with the received security association, or thelifespan included with the received security association may takeprecedence over the lifespan defined by the local policy).

Security association manager 130 creates an entry in securityassociation database for mobile node 102 (e.g., according to the uniqueidentifier or NAI) and adds the received security association tosecurity association database 140 and marks the security associationentry as active at operation 6. In one embodiment of the invention, thesecurity association has a maximum capacity of security associationentries where the capacity is defined by a local policy. Thus if thecapacity of the security association database is reached, the securityassociation manager 130 may not add the security association to thesecurity association database. More discussion relative to the capacityof the security association database and the actions taken by thesecurity association manager will be discussed with reference to FIG.4A. The newly created security association entry is used to authenticatemobile node 102 at operation 7.

At operation 8, mobile network registration module sends a mobilenetwork registration request on behalf of the mobile node to mobilenetwork registration module 150 on home agent 106. Included in thismobile network registration request is the unique identifier of themobile node (e.g., NAI). At operation 9, the mobile network registrationmodule sends that unique identifier to mobile network authenticationmodule 160 to authenticate mobile node 102. At operation 10, mobilenetwork authentication module 160 checks security association database180 for a security association entry corresponding to that mobile node.If no entry exists, then at operation 11 mobile network authenticationmodule 160 accesses a remote authentication facility 125 to retrieve asecurity association for the mobile node. For example, in one embodimentof the invention the remote authentication facility is anauthentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server usingprotocols such as RADIUS or DIAMETER. At operation 12, remoteauthentication facility 125 returns the security associationcorresponding with that mobile node.

Similarly as in the case of foreign agent 104, this received securityassociation is associated with a lifespan that determines the timeperiod in which the security association is valid (i.e., has notexpired). While in one embodiment of the invention the lifespan isincluded with the security association retrieved from remoteauthentication facility 125, in alternative embodiments of the inventionthe lifespan is created from a local policy. For example, in oneembodiment a local policy defined on home agent 106 may take intoconsideration the system status of home agent and the current number ofmobile node subscribers before assigning a lifespan to the securityassociation. In another embodiment of the invention the local policy maydefine the lifespan differently (e.g., based on the type of mobile node,the service level assigned to the mobile node, etc.). In yet anotherembodiment of the invention, the lifespan may be included with thereceived security association and also may be defined in a local policy.In such a conflict, either lifespan may override the other (e.g., thelifespan defined by the local policy may take precedence over thelifespan included with the received security association, or thelifespan included with the received security association may takeprecedence over the lifespan defined by the local policy).

Security association manager 170 creates an entry in securityassociation database for mobile node 102 (e.g., according to the uniqueidentifier or NAI) and adds the received security association tosecurity association database 180 and marks the security associationentry as active at operation 13. In one embodiment of the invention, thesecurity association has a maximum capacity of security associationentries where the capacity is defined by a local policy. Thus if thecapacity of the security association database is reached, the securityassociation manager 170 may not add the security association to thesecurity association database. More discussion relative to the capacityof the security association database and the actions taken by thesecurity association manager will be discussed with reference to FIG.4A. The newly created security association entry is used to authenticatemobile node 102 at operation 14. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, homeagent 106 provides network connectivity to mobile node 102 by bindingthe Care-of-Address (CoA) associated with the mobile node to the mobilenode's home address.

At operation 15, the mobile network registration module 150 sends aregistration reply to the foreign agent 104 indicating that the mobilenode is authorized for access. At operation 16, foreign agent 104provides network connectivity to mobile device 102. The networkconnectivity is terminated at operation 17. Network connectivity may beterminated by any number of ways. For example, the mobile node may ceaseto operate at foreign agent 104 (e.g., the mobile node leaves thenetwork of foreign agent 104), or the mobile node may exist at theforeign node beyond the time limit assigned to the network connection.It should be understood that the time limit assigned to the networkconnection is not the same and should not be confused with the lifespanof the security association. In fact, typically the lifespan of thesecurity association is much longer than the lifetime assigned to thenetwork connection.

Regardless of how the network connectivity was terminated, the mobilenode is required to send another mobile network registration request toforeign agent 104 (e.g., a new mobile network registration request or anetwork re-registration request if it wishes to use the mobile networkcapability provided by foreign agent 104). Although not shown in FIG.1A, upon termination of network connectivity security associationmanager 130 marks the security association entry in security associationdatabase 140 corresponding to mobile node 102 as idle. Similarly, upontermination of network connectivity security association manager 180marks the security association entry in security association database180 corresponding to mobile node 102 as idle.

FIG. 1B is a data flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofauthenticating the mobile node upon receiving a subsequent registrationrequest according to one embodiment of the invention. At operation 18,the mobile node 102 (as described in FIG. 1A) sends another mobilenetwork registration request to foreign agent 104 (i.e., a second mobilenetwork registration request after termination of the previous networkconnectivity). Mobile network registration module receives the requestalong with a unique identifier of the mobile node (e.g., NAI) and sendsthis unique identifier to mobile network authentication module 120 atoperation 19. At operation 20, mobile network authentication modulechecks security association database 140 for an entry corresponding tomobile node 102 (e.g., by using the unique identifier or NAI). Unlikethe discussion in FIG. 1A, there is an entry in security associationdatabase that corresponds to mobile node 102. Therefore, at operation 21mobile node 102 is authenticated with the security association stored insecurity association database 140.

By using the security association stored in the security associationdatabase, there is no need to retrieve a security association fromremote authentication facility 115 as in FIG. 1A. Furthermore, asecurity association was not retrieved from remote authenticationfacility 115 upon receipt of subsequent mobile network registrationrequests. Thus the amount of time required to setup network connectivityis reduced and the network traffic and processing load required on theremote authentication facility is also reduced.

At operation 22, mobile network registration module 110 sends a mobilenetwork registration request on behalf of mobile node 102 to mobilenetwork registration module 150 on home agent 106. Included in thismobile network registration request is the unique identifier of themobile node (e.g., NAI). At operation 23, the mobile networkregistration module sends that unique identifier to mobile networkauthentication module 160 to authenticate mobile node 102. At operation24, mobile network authentication module 160 checks security associationdatabase 180 for a security association entry corresponding to thatmobile node. Unlike the discussion in FIG. 1A, there is an entry insecurity association database 180 that corresponds to mobile node 102.Therefore, at operation 25 mobile node 102 is authenticated with thesecurity association stored in security association database 140. Atoperation 26, the security association entry is modified from the idlestate to an active state. More discussion regarding state transitionswill be discussed with reference to FIG. 2. Although not shown in FIG.1B, home agent 106 provides network connectivity to mobile node 102 bybinding the Care-of-Address (CoA) associated with the mobile node to themobile node's home address.

By using the security association stored in the security associationdatabase, there is no need to retrieve a security association fromremote authentication facility 125 as in FIG. 1A. Furthermore, asecurity association was not retrieved from remote authenticationfacility 125 upon receipt of subsequent mobile network registrationrequests. Thus the amount of time required to setup network connectivityis reduced and the network traffic and processing load required on theremote authentication facility is also reduced.

At operation 27, the mobile network registration module 150 sends aregistration reply to the foreign agent 104 indicating that the mobilenode is authorized for access. At operation 28, foreign agent 104provides network connectivity to mobile device 102. At operation 29, thesecurity association entry in security association database 140 thatcorresponds to mobile node 102 is modified from the idle state to anactive state.

FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram illustrating exemplary state changes of asecurity association entry according to one embodiment of the invention.FIG. 2 will be discussed with reference to the exemplary securityassociation entries in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, each entry in the securityassociation database includes, but is not limited to, a network accessidentifier (NAI), the key used in authentication of the mobile node, alifespan that the key is valid for, the last time this entry was used,and a state. Referring to FIG. 2, there are four states that a securityassociation entry may have: active 305, idle 310, lifespan expired 315,and removed 320. Initially the security association entry is marked asactive, and a timer for the lifespan will start. For example, in FIG. 3the security association entry for Node 1 has a state that is marked asactive and the lifespan indicates that 90 days are left until thelifespan expires.

Security association entries are modified from the active state 305 tothe idle state 310 upon deletion of network connectivity (e.g., a mobilenode sending a de-registration request, administrative action was taken,etc.) and the lifespan of the security association has not expired. Forexample, in FIG. 3 the security association entry for Node 2 has a statethat is marked as idle and was last used twenty-three days ago.

Security associations are modified from the active state 305 to thelifespan expired state 315 upon deletion of network connectivity and thelifespan of the security association has expired. For example, in FIG. 3the security association entry for Node 4 has a state marked as expired(note that the lifespan indicates that 0 out of 90 days remain). Whilein one embodiment of the invention the lifespan is reset if the lifespanexpires while the network connectivity is still in use, in analternative embodiment of the invention the state will be marked aslifespan expired once the network connectivity has been deleted.

Security association entries are modified from the idle state 310 to theactive state 305 upon receiving a mobile network registration requestwhile in the idle state and the lifespan not expiring. For example, inFIG. 3 the security association entry for Node 3 is marked as active andthe lifespan indicates that 15 out of 90 days remain. Thus it is likelythat this security association entry has been modified from the idlestate to the active state (i.e., it is likely that a mobile networkregistration request was received while in the idle state). While in oneembodiment of the invention the lifespan is not reset if the state ismodified from the idle state 310 to the active state 305, in alternativeembodiments of the invention different action is taken (e.g., thelifespan is reset to the original time, the lifespan is reset based on alocal policy, the lifespan is reset based on a dynamic policy, etc.).

Security association entries are modified from the idle state 310 to thelifespan expired state 315 upon the lifespan expiring. For example, inFIG. 3 the security association entry for Node 4 has a state marked asexpired (note that the lifespan indicates that 0 out of 90 days remain).Security association entries are modified from the lifespan expiredstate 315 to the removed state 320 upon a capacity of the securityassociation database being met. The capacity of the security associationdatabase may be defined by a local policy on the foreign agent or homeagent. Upon a security association entry being marked as removed, thesecurity association is deleted from the security association database.

Security association entries are modified from the lifespan expiredstate 315 to the active state 305 upon receiving a new networkregistration request. According to one embodiment of the invention, eventhough the security association is marked as lifespan expired, thesecurity association may be able to authenticate the mobile node. Thus,if authentication is successful, the security association is marked asactive and the lifespan timer is restarted with the current lifespanvalue. According to another embodiment of the invention, if the securityassociation cannot authenticate the mobile node (e.g., authenticationfails) a new security association is downloaded from an externalauthentication facility and the existing security association entry isupdated and marked as active.

Security association entries are modified from the lifespan expiredstate to the idle state upon the foreign agent or home agent receivingan updated security association. In one embodiment of the inventionsecurity associations are updated by a remote authentication facility(e.g., a AAA server) pushing out updated security associations (e.g., byusing a Change of Authorization message). If the updated securityassociation is received when the entry is marked with a state aslifespan expired, the entry is updated with the new key, the lifespan isreset, and the entry is marked as idle until a registration request isreceived. In another embodiment of the invention, security associationsare updated by a triggering of a new security association ifauthorization fails with the key currently included with the securityassociation entry. For example, if a registration request is receivedfrom a mobile node while the security association entry for that mobilenode is marked with a state as lifespan expired, the securityassociation key may not be successful in authenticating that mobilenode. In such a case, according to one embodiment of the invention a newsecurity association entry will be downloaded from a remoteauthentication facility and that new security association entry will beused in authenticating that mobile node. An updated security associationmay also reset the lifespan (or change the lifespan) associated withthat security association regardless of the current state of thesecurity association entry.

Security association entries that are marked in the active state or theidle state are likely able to provide authentication for thecorresponding mobile node as the lifespan of the security associationhas not yet expired. Thus, unless authentication is unsuccessful, usinga security association entry stored in a local security associationdatabase to provide authentication of a mobile node without having toaccess a remote authentication facility (e.g. a AAA server) reduces theamount of time required for providing network connectivity, reduces theamount of network traffic, and reduces the processing load on the remoteauthentication facility.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are flow diagrams illustrating an exemplary method ofauthenticating a mobile node upon receiving a mobile networkregistration request for a mobile node according to one embodiment ofthe invention. The steps taken in FIGS. 4A and 4B can be performedsimilarly by a home agent as well as a foreign agent. While the flowdiagrams in FIGS. 4A and 4B show a particular order of operationsperformed by certain embodiments of the invention, it should beunderstood that such order is exemplary (e.g., alternative embodimentsmay perform the operations in a different order, combine operations,overlap certain operations, etc.).

A mobile network registration request for a mobile node is received atblock 402. While in one embodiment of the invention the mobile networkregistration request is a mobile IP registration request, in alternativeembodiments of the invention different mobile network registrationrequests may be received (e.g., for other protocols other than IP). Atblock 404, a determination is made to determine if there is a securityassociation entry in the security association database associated withthis mobile node. If there is such an entry, then flow moves to block422 which is described with reference to FIG. 4B. If there is not anentry, flow moves to block 406. At block 406, a security association isretrieved from a remote authentication facility and flow moves to block408.

A determination is made whether the security association database is atcapacity at block 408. As previously described, the capacity of thesecurity association database may be defined by a local policy. If thesecurity association database is at capacity then control moves to block416. As the security association database is at capacity (i.e., no newentries can be added, an entry has to be replaced) at block 416 adetermination is made to determine if there is an entry in the securityassociation database that is in a lifetime expired state. If there is anentry that is in the lifetime expired state the entry that has beenexpired the longest is chosen for replacement at block 419. If there isnot an entry that is in the lifetime expired state, control flows toblock 417. At block 417 a determination is made to determine whetherthere is an entry in the security association database that is in anidle state. If there is an entry that is in the idle state, the entrythat has been idle the longest is chosen for replacement at block 420.If there are no entries in an idle state, then control moves to block418 where alternative action is taken. While in one embodiment of theinvention such alternative action may locally cache the securityassociation and use that security association until the networkconnectivity is deleted, in alternative embodiments of the inventionother action is taken (e.g., the local policy defining the capacity ismodified to include adding additional security associations based on acertain time of day, a count is added to a capacity increaser where uponreaching a certain predefined number the capacity will be increased,etc.). If there is an entry in an idle state the entry that has beenidle the longest is chosen for replacement at block 420.

If the security association database was not at capacity (meaning newentries may be added) a new entry is created at block 410. At block 412,the entry is populated with the security association attributes and atblock 414 the entry is inserted into the security association databaseand control flows to block 422. At block 422 (FIG. 4B) the securityassociation entry is marked as active. Note that if the flow originatedfrom block 404 a security association entry already existed for thismobile node. Thus, the security association entry for this mobile nodewas either marked as idle or marked as lifespan expired. If the floworiginated from block 414, a security association entry was newly addedand had no initial state.

At block 424 the timer for the lifespan of the security association isstarted and at block 426 network connectivity is provided to the mobilenode. At block 428 a determination is made whether the lifespan hasexpired. According to one embodiment of the invention if the lifespan isexpired but network connectivity has not been deleted, the lifespantimer is restarted. According to another embodiment of the invention, ifthe lifespan is expired the flow moves to block 430 regardless of thestatus of network connectivity where the entry is marked as expired andflow moves to block 432. If the lifespan has not expired, then flowmoves to block 432. At block 432 a determination is made to determinewhether network connectivity has been deleted. If network connectivityhas not been deleted, control moves back to block 428. If networkconnectivity has been deleted then flow moves to block 434. At block434, a determination is made to determine whether the entry is marked asexpired. If the entry is marked as expired, then according to oneembodiment of the invention the entry is removed at block 436. Accordingto another embodiment of the invention, if the entry is marked asexpired the expired entry remains in the security association databaseuntil capacity of that security association database has been reached.If the entry is not marked as expired, then the entry is marked as idleat block 438.

While the invention has been described in terms of several embodiments,those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is notlimited to the embodiments described, can be practiced with modificationand alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Thedescription is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting.

1. A computer implemented method comprising: in response to a firstmobile network registration request from a mobile node, accessing aremote authentication facility to retrieve a security association forthe mobile node for authenticating and providing a first networkconnectivity to the mobile node, wherein the security association isassociated with a lifespan; inserting the security association in alocal security association database to create a security associationentry, wherein the security association entry includes the lifespan;receiving a second mobile network registration request from the mobilenode after the first network connectivity has been terminated; and usingthe security association entry in the local security associationdatabase that corresponds to the mobile node to provide authenticationof the mobile node without having to access the remote authenticationfacility again if the lifespan associated with the security associationentry is valid.
 2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 whereinthe first and second mobile network registration requests are mobileinternet protocol (IP) registration requests.
 3. The computerimplemented method of claim 1 wherein providing network connectivityincludes creating a binding for the mobile node that includes atemporary network address of the mobile node, and wherein termination ofnetwork connectivity includes removing the binding.
 4. The computerimplemented method of claim 1 wherein the lifespan is determined by alocal policy or is included with security association, and wherein thesecurity association is retrieved from an authentication, authorization,and accounting (AAA) device.
 5. The computer implemented method of claim1 further comprising, receiving an updated security association for themobile node and updating the security association entry in the securityassociation database according to the updated security association; andupon the security association entry failing to provide authentication ofthe mobile node, requesting a different security association to provideauthentication of the mobile node.
 6. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1 further comprising: marking the security association as activeupon providing the first network connectivity; and marking the securityassociation entry as expired upon the lifespan expiring.
 7. The computerimplemented method of claim 6 further comprising, removing the securityassociation entry upon the security association entry not marked asactive and the lifespan expiring; and removing the security associationentry upon reaching a capacity of the security association database andthe security association entry is not marked as active and the securityassociation entry is the least recently used.
 8. The computerimplemented method of claim 7 wherein the capacity of the securityassociation database is defined by a local policy.
 9. A network element,comprising: a security association database to store a set of one ormore security associations, wherein each of the set of securityassociations is associated with a different mobile node, and whereineach of the set of security associations is associated with a lifespan;a mobile network registration module to receive a network registrationrequest for one of the different mobile nodes, a mobile networkauthentication module to authenticate the one of the different mobilenodes with the one of the set of security associations stored in thesecurity association database that is associated with that mobile nodewithout having to access a remote authentication facility to retrievethe security association; and a security association manager coupledwith the security association database, the security association managerto modify the security association entry corresponding to that mobilenode in the security association database depending on a current stateof the security association, wherein the security association is markedas active upon successful network connectivity, and wherein the securityassociation is marked as idle upon termination of network connectivityand the lifespan not expiring.
 10. The network element of claim 9,wherein the security association manager further removes the securityassociation from the security association database upon the securityassociation entry not marked as active and the lifespan expiring if acapacity of the security association database is met.
 11. The networkelement of claim 9, wherein if the authentication of the one of thedifferent mobile nodes is not successful, then the mobile networkauthentication module causing a different security association to beretrieved from the remote authentication facility.
 12. The networkelement of claim 9, wherein the security association manager further toreceive an updated security association for that mobile node andupdating the security association entry in the security associationdatabase according to the updated security association;
 13. The networkelement of claim 9, wherein successful network connectivity includescreation of a binding for that mobile node that includes a temporarynetwork address of that mobile node, and wherein deletion of networkconnectivity includes removing the binding.
 14. The network element ofclaim 9 wherein the security association manager further to insertreceived security associations into the security association database.15. The network element of claim 9, wherein the security associationmanager further to remove the security association entry upon reaching acapacity of the security association database and the security entry isnot marked as active and the security association entry is the leastrecently used.
 16. The network element of claim 15, wherein the capacityof the security association database is defined by a local policy.
 17. Amachine-readable medium that provides instructions that, if executed bya processor, will cause said processor to perform operations comprising:in response to a first mobile network registration request from a mobilenode, accessing a remote authentication facility to retrieve a securityassociation for the mobile node for authenticating and providing a firstnetwork connectivity to the mobile node, wherein the securityassociation is associated with a lifespan; inserting the securityassociation in a local security association database to create asecurity association entry, wherein the security association entryincludes the lifespan; receiving a second mobile network registrationrequest from the mobile node after the first network connectivity hasbeen terminated; and using the security association entry in the localsecurity association database that corresponds to the mobile node toprovide authentication of the mobile node without having to access theremote authentication facility again if the lifespan associated with thesecurity association entry is valid.
 18. The machine-readable medium ofclaim 17 wherein the first and second mobile network registrationrequests are mobile internet protocol (IP) registration requests. 19.The machine-readable medium of claim 17 wherein providing networkconnectivity includes creating a binding for the mobile node thatincludes a temporary network address of the mobile node, and whereindeletion of network connectivity includes removing the binding.
 20. Themachine-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the lifespan is determinedby a local policy or is included with security association, and whereinthe security association is retrieved from an authentication,authorization, and accounting (AAA) device.
 21. The machine-readablemedium of claim 17 further comprising, receiving an updated securityassociation for the mobile node and updating the security associationentry in the security association database according to the updatedsecurity association; and upon the security association entry failing toprovide authentication of the mobile node, requesting a differentsecurity association to provide authentication of the mobile node. 22.The machine-readable medium of claim 17 further comprising: marking thesecurity association as active upon providing the first networkconnectivity; and marking the security association entry as expired uponthe lifespan expiring.
 23. The machine-readable medium of claim 22further comprising, removing the security association entry upon thesecurity association entry not marked as active and the lifespanexpiring; and removing the security association entry upon reaching acapacity of the security association database and the securityassociation entry is not marked as active and the security associationentry is the least recently used.
 24. The machine-readable medium ofclaim 23 wherein the capacity of the security association database isdefined by a local policy.